Sharon thats so cool!!
I don't have one but lately I have been toying with sweet paninis. I use a grill pan and a glass paperweight to get the char-grilled effect.

One I did this weekend was challah bread, cream cheese and peach preserves.

BTW...what is the jacket like??
Can you model it for us??

Cheers!
Susie

Sanata probably brought it to you because Santa thought you were too naughty! LOL! Just teasing.

I'm curious about the panini press. So I'll be lurking here. Sorry but I don't have any recipes for it.

Sharon, I bought Matt one a couple of years ago. His is the Cuisinart Griddle. I just asked him if he uses any recipes for panini sandwiches and he said no. He just wings it. He loves to add things like pesto, brie, roasted red peppers. He said one of his favourites is baguette with pesto to which he adds a fresh jalapeño pepper, tomato, mozzarella and turkey.

Have fun with your new toy.

Ann

Dunno if your panini press can be used in this manner:

I have a George Foreman grill which I don't use for many things, but it is excellent for searing tuna steaks. Get it hot then throw the steaks on there for just a few minutes. Comes out with a sear outside and pink inside.

chase:

Grilled vegetables and brie or teleme
Grilled chicken with provolone and pesto
Nutella and chocolate on nut bread (I put this one in because I know there's a couple of Nutella fans in this forum)
Steamed Broccoli raab and Provolone
Prosciutto, Mozzarella, tomato, basil
Artichoke, olive, gruyere
Fontina and caponata
Chicken, spinach, red onion, provolone
Turkey and Sage with roasted red peppers
Chicken, Bacon, Avocado
Ham and Pepperjack cheese
Asparagus, Prosciutto and Swiss

Joe

Mmmmmm...I love panini!

~ sliced turkey breast, havarti cheese, roasted red bell pepper and parmesan peppercorn mayo (just mix some parm cheese and grind some black pepper into your mayo)

~ Fred's Sandwich - mayo on bread, then add sauteed zucchini and onion, sprinkle on Italian herbs and parmesan cheese, top with sliced tomato, and lastly provolone, cheddar or mozzarella cheese, sliced

~ club rolls, soft butter, sliced ham, sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper, sliced cheddar or havarti sliced

~ rolls or sourdough bread, mayo, sliced chicken breast, mild or medium salsa, Monterey Jack cheese.

Grilled anything sandwich sounds good. And yes Sharon...your family knows you.

Joe, are you delivering??? great list.

I love - love my panini!! Very good suggestions so far.
Flour tortilla shells filled and rolled eggroll style - brushed with melted butter on outside will turn leftovers into a meal. I like to use wheat tortillas.
Ruebens - and hot pastrami sandwiches are to die for!
Cuban sandwiches using leftover pork are delicious.
Heating up leftover buffalo wings - sears & crisps them w/out overcooking.
Always generously brush the outsides of the bread of choice with melted butter - I find better then olive oil.
The Chili Brie Soup & a Panini sandwich from leftovers is a delicious quick meal on a cold rainy / snowy evening.
Have fun with your Panini -

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=panini

142 recipes

I also have the Cuisinart Griddler. Our favorite sandwich is a Rueben Panini. Delicious. I also love to make asparagus and green beans in it, just toss them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. I don't think we have ever tried anything on our griddler we did not like. Just pick any combo that sounds good to you, a bit of cheese helps to hold it together. But make sure you use good bread. I had a few slices of sandwich bread I needed to use up one day and made paninis with them. They still tasted good, but they practically fell apart from the pressure of the press!

It's not a panini press per se, but I have a sandwich press and one combo that DH really likes is black forest ham, swiss cheese, dijon mustard and apricot preserves grilled on sourdough! YUM!

Lucky you.... I've had a few good ones but I can't remember the combinations....one was in Chicago with Ellen last year. I've had good luck with epicurious so I've included this link for you. Oh, search foodTV too...that Italian lady, can't spell her name, made a good lookin' one a while back.

Here is a link that might be useful: Panini Recipes

I love any kind of grilled sandwich and experiment often!

One of my favorites is thinly sliced prime rib with horseradish sauce on lightly buttered SD bread and then grilled....YUM!!!!!

Michelle

Sharon - nice Santa - leather and food - got it all covered :)

This recipe is tried and true - Cindy served this when Ken and I stopped in for lunch - how lucky am I that she's right on my route when I head up to the lake :)
(The vinegar/sugar onions are great to add to any sandwich - I'm thinking they'd be wonderful on Michelle's beef/horseradish sandwich, yum.)

Chicken and Spinach Panini
Source: adapted from about.com

1 pizza crust dough (20 oz), preferably homemade
2 T olive oil, plus more for pan
1 tsp dried herbs of choice (Italian mix is good)
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 T olive oil
1 cup red onion, quartered and sliced
1 T sugar (more or less to taste)
1 T apple cider vinegar
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
4 slices Havarti cheese (more to taste)

Press dough out with fingers in an oiled 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan that has been sprinkled with herbs. Leave dough dimpled. Brush with 2 T olive oil and sprinkle with herbs. (Note - if making homemade dough, can just add herbs to dough) Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until light brown, cool.
Mix together spinach, mayonnaise and garlic powder, set aside. (can double spinach filling ingredients if want thicker layer of spinach)
Saute onion in 1 T olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes until crisp tender. Add sugar and vinegar, simmer over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring often.
Season chicken breasts with salt. In skillet sprayed with cooking spray, cook chicken over med-high heat for 7 minutes on each side or until chicken is browned and juices run clear. Let chicken stand for 5 minutes, then cut into slices, across grain.
Cut pizza crust into 4 rectangles, then split each rectangle horizontally (you will have 8 pieces - a top and bottom). Spread the unseasoned side of each with small amount of spinach mixture. Top 4 rectangles, seasoned side down, with sliced chicken, onion mixture, cheese and remaining crust rectangles, seasoned side up, to make sandwiches.
Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place sandwiches in skillet. Place smaller skillet on top of sandwiches to flatten them as they cook. Cook 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp, thoroughly heated and browned, turning once halfway through cooking time. Cut each sandwich in half to serve. Or cook sandwiches, two at a time, on panini or dual-contact grill, about 2-4 minutes or until bread is crisp and cheese is melted.
6-8 servings

I would also reccomend the book "Panini" by Jo McAuley. I had to find it on my shelf to get the Authors name right. It has a lot of great recipes, both savory and sweet. I got mine at Amazon on clearance but they only have overpriced used copies now. You might find a copy on clearance at a store though.

I love my panini!!

My absolute favorite is:
On Ciabatta bread, what I call

"The Red, Green, & White Panni"
in this order:
Balsamic vinaigrette, splased on both slices of bread
Roasted red peppers
Layer of fresh basil leaves
Fresh mozzerella, sliced

Lucy

We have a press and use it all the time.

I buy small hero rolls from the grocery store and slice them, lengthwise, into 3 slices so that each one makes 1.5 sandwiches...I like them thin an crispy so this works well.

While we have tried different variations, my favorite is mozzarella and prosciutto with some broccoli rabe. Once the sandwiches are assembled, I spray them with oil, and grill them until they're crisp and the cheese is melted.

I make a fresh red-pepper dipping sauce and we're good to go. Slowly saute a few cloves of garlic in some olive oil, and roast some red peppers over an open flame on one of your kitchen burners, until black and blistered, then pop into a plastic or brown bag and close up to they steam. Remove the skin and inner ribs and drop into food processor or blender, and give a whirl with the oil and garlic.

We usually serve it with hot pasta salad and a green salad.

Other variations we do are:

Mozz/Prosciutto/broccoli rabe sauteed with oil and garlic
Grilled chicken breasts sliced thinly/Mozz/arugula
Fontina/red onion/arugula
Cooked sausage slice thin/mozz/roasted peppers
Mozz/broccoli rabe sauteed in garlic/oil (vegetarian version)
Grilled zucchini/mozzarella/sauteed mushrooms

The variations are only limited by your imagination.

Sue

I agree with Woodie, leather and food covers nearly everything. I do think you might need a bottle of wine as well, though.

There are a lot of good recipes and suggestions here, so there's not much I can add, but reading this thread made me hungry.

Annie

We love panini, but--sorry--a panini press is just wasted money and storage space. A Forman grill (or similar) willd do the same job and can be used for other cooking as well.

If you have another hinged grill, that you can regulate the temperature on, I'd return the press and get something else that doesn't duplicate something you already have.

But here's the most valuable tip you're going to get. When using either a panini press or your Forman grill (for anything--not just panini) use parchment. Put a piece under and one over the food when you're cooking--the food will cook just as well, will get grill marks etc, but you won't have a messy grill to clean when you're done. Some food--like chicken--actually cooks BETTER with the parchment (I find my chicken is much more moist when cooked that way on the grill).

As to recipes? We put pretty much anything--meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables on chiabatta bread, or English muffins, or other interesting bread, add some interesting salad dressing (vidalia onion is good, or honey mustard, or raspberry vinaigrette), and grill for panini.

Try raisin bread with sliced apples, pecans, and really sharp cheddar. Or pears, walnuts and blue cheese--if you'd like some really different sandwiches.

Thanks for all the great recipes, combos and tips! I brought it up here to the cottage. Think we will get a lot of use out of it especially in the winter.

Thanks again!

I say a great big YUM to all the suggestions above. They all sound wonderful.

We have had our Panini for several years and it has it's own separate specially designated counter because we use it so much.

Don't forget that Muffalettas can be made nicely in the Panini Grill.

Love me my panini press! I don't have room for it either, but I dare you to try to take it away from me... :)

Chase, after experimenting for several months, I have 3 recommendations.

First, you have to find the type(s) of bread you prefer. Has to be something dense, of course, that can hold up. I almost always buy a loaf of Italian now, but that might not be your choice at all.

Secondly, experiment with the 'coating', brushing with both melted butter and olive oil to decide which you prefer.

Last but not least, the condiments will really make it or break it. One good mixture I've found is a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise, a heaping teaspoon (or to taste) of Dijon mustard, plus some fresh herbs -- a few fresh basil leaves, some Italian parsley, or whatever -- twirled in a mini-Cuisinart until blended. Another one that's delicious (from the back of the bag of cranberries) is 2 T. fresh cranberry sauce, 2 T. mayo, plus a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced. Put that on a bun with turkey and cheese and maybe some bacon crumbles. Omigosh, what fab leftovers!

My family likes a little 'kick' in everything, so I always add hot pepper relish or sliced jalapenos or something, in addition to the meat and cheese and greens.